Marketing and Sponsorship

Dutch brewing company Heineken boosted Formula 1's sponsorship revenue by around $16.8M last year, accounts revealed, according to Christian Sylt for the London TELEGRAPH. After "almost two years of negotiations about sponsoring F1," the brewer "got to the finish line" in '16 when it signed a deal to become the sport's global beer partner. Company filings from F1 owner Liberty Media reveal that "advertising and sponsorship revenue grew in 2016, primarily driven by a new contract with Heineken." Heineken's sponsorship deal "got off the grid" at the Italian Grand Prix in Sept. '16, and if it had paid pro-rata for the rest of the year, it would bring the annual total to around $39.2M (TELEGRAPH, 10/15).

Looking to put a consistent brand personality on what has been a "disparate set of consulting offerings" around the world, Lagardère is consolidating them under a new Lagardère Plus brand, according to Terry Lefton of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Additionally, Lagardère acquired Brace, a London-based creative agency with clients including Amazon Prime, Brown-Forman, Greenpeace and Panasonic. The Lagardère Plus brand incorporates Lagardère Sports & Entertainment's consulting businesses and adds akzio! and Zaechel Int'l in Germany and Sponsorship 360 in France -- along with new strategic, creative, digital and analytics capabilities. That adds to seven agencies and more than 300 employees globally. The purpose, said Lagardère North America President & CEO Andy Pierce, is to have a more unified offering to compete with the likes of Momentum Worldwide, Octagon and IMG, and to have sports, entertainment and sponsorship marketing of all types housed in one group (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/16 issue).

Netball Australia announced Woolworths as its official supermarket and fresh food partner, according to Menreet Kaur of B&T. Along with supporting the Australian Diamonds, Woolworths' partnership "will also further extend to state, community and grassroots levels of the sport." This includes support of all state netball associations as well as the NSW Swifts and Giants Netball in New South Wales, Firebirds in Queensland, Melbourne Vixens in Victoria, Adelaide Thunderbirds in South Australia and West Coast Fever in Western Australia. Woolworths was recently announced as the official supermarket and fresh food supporter of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. The supermarket also supports Surfing Australia's junior pathway program and is a partner of the Australian Football League, including the AFL Women's in a national and grassroots capacity (B&T, 10/16).

The All England Lawn Tennis Club appointed Keith Prowse as the official hospitality provider of Wimbledon for a five-year period starting in '19. The announcement marks a step-change in the structure and presentation of corporate hospitality at The Championships. The appointment of an exclusive hospitality provider simplifies and standardizes the route to market with a single official brand offering, controlled by the AELTC and delivered by Keith Prowse. The relationship between the AELTC and Keith Prowse dates back to '82. The shared ambition is to continue to evolve the hospitality service (Wimbledon).

Serie A side AS Roma announced Egyptian Tourist Organisation in Italy as the team's official tourism partner. The club will "support and promote Egypt" with advertising displayed on the LED hoardings around the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico. Roma will also "advertise across its social media platforms" (THE DRUM, 10/14).

Cricket Australia renewed its naming rights deal with KFC. The new partnership will see KFC extend its naming rights for the Big Bash League for the next four years. KFC has been the naming rights partner since the BBL's first season (CA).

New Zealand's Rugby League World Cup jersey "features a design that was inspired by a tattoo on one of the players who defected to Tonga." In an effort to "better represent the players' diverse backgrounds," the new jersey has a hand-drawn design by Kiwis cultural adviser Ora Kihi on the back and sleeves "made up of several past and present New Zealand players' cultural tattoos." They include Manu Ma'u, "who was one of the three players to make a last-minute change of allegiance and play for Tonga at the upcoming World Cup" (STUFF, 10/16).